Mole Creek Line

Also known as: Chudleigh Line (after the major centre on
the line; used to the 1930s)From: Lemana Junction (Junction with Western Line)
To: Mole CreekOpened: 1890Closed: 1985Status: Closed & lifted
Total length: 20.4km (12¾ miles)

History

The late 1880s saw a flurry of branch line construction by the TGR
following completion of the Main Line, and the Western Line as far as
Devonport. In the mid north, local residents were successful in having a
line constructed from the Western Line towards the base of the Great Western
Tiers, some distance to the south.

The line opened in 1890 with a mixed train in each direction each day
except Sundays. Initial traffic was light, but steadily increased, mostly as
a result of the timber industry. The development of the Burnie APPM paper
mill in the late 1930s saved the line, with bulkhead flat-wagons carrying
cut pulpwood from Mole Creek, Chudleigh and Needles to Burnie through to the
late 1960s. From 1957 the line was gradually re-laid, allowing the elderly CC
and CCS locomotives, and small V and W class diesel locos, to be replaced on general
freight traffic by X class diesels, and newer steam locomotives on excursion
passenger trains. The next
saviour of the line was the commencement of limestone traffic to South
Burnie, soon after, the 1973 opening of the Long Reach woodchip mills.
This increased traffic on the line dramatically to two trains per day, and resulted
in the larger Z and ZA locomotives operating block log trains from from Mole Creek.

Log traffic on the line ceased temporarily in 1984 but was never
restarted. Soon after this, the limestone traffic was relocated to
Deloraine. Plans were made for traffic to recommence in 1987, but this
did not occur, and in 1992 the track was lifted after many years out of
use.

Following the survey of the line to Mole Creek, it was proposed to use the line as the first stage of a railway line to the West Coast. In 1892 a proposed extension to (Mt) Zeehan was surveyed, to link the Mole Creek line with the TGR's isolated Zeehan-Strahan line. The
construction of this line did not proceed, and a few years later the Emu Bay Railway extended their line southward from
Guildford to Zeehan instead.

Route

The Mole Creek line left the Western Line at Lemana Junction, 5 kilometres
west of Deloraine. The two lines parallelled each other for approx 1km before
the Mole Creek line diverged in a south-westerly direction.

From here the line climbed steadily though farmland, passing through
Needles station, before passing through a gap between two mountain ridges. From here the
line descended, again steeply, though farmland before reaching Chudleigh.
From here to the terminus at Mole Creek, the line is generally flat and relatively
straight, running along the fertile plains at the base of the Great Western
Tiers.

Map & Station list

From an 1897 Public Works chart

Time Table

From the 1945 Working Time Table

Other References

The Lemana Junction–Mole Creek Line by HJW Stokes, published in ARHS Bulletin,
September 1994

Tasmania's Mole Creek Line by Paul Raspin, published in
Australian Railway Enthusiast, March 2005